Final Fantasy VII: Zack Chronicles The Beginning
by Gaffmiester
Summary: A collection of chapters delving into Zacks past from when he leaves Gonagaga to the exact moment that Crisis Core starts, this will include, leaving Gongaga, enlisting at ShinRa, training and so on. It will be as accurate as possible.
1. Departure

Final Fantasy VII: Zack Chronicles The Beginning 

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Index:

Chapter 1: Departure

Chapter 2: Arrival

Chapter 3: Address

More to come...

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Note to readers: This is a fanfic that will retell Zack Fairs' life from when he leaves Gongaga to pretty much the precise beginning of the upcoming game: Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII. I just want to get it out of the way that this WON'T contain any yaoi stuff. I want this to pretty much be little book as if it was written by Square Enix themselves. It's not really a RE-imagining of events as it is an (as accurate as possible) imagining of Zacks' early years.

I hope you enjoy.

(ANOTHER NOTE: Just a quick note to readers, this first chapter may be a little boring but this is my first fanfic and I can't really imagine too much happening at this point in the book, but it WILL get more interesting once Zack hits Midgar. And just on a last note, I would be eternally grateful for any constructive criticisms/reviews.) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 1: Departure

"MOM! Stop fussing over it!" Cries Zack Fair in front of a bus bound for Costa Del Sol.  
"But you don't want to look like a mess in front of the recruitment officer do you?" replies his mother, still trying to hand-iron the wrinkles out of his shirt. "It's all good. It's at least a days trip and I'm sure the wrinkles will work themselves out" Says Zack with a smirk and a plan to scrunch his shirt up as the bus pulls away.

"Now you take care son. Don't go getting yourself killed or anything and come back to us in one piece" Zacks father said in a stern voice while trying to wrench Zacks mother away from the boy."I will come back. You can be sure of that"Zack hopped on the bus with a wink and a wave to his crying mother and proud father.  
"Take me to Midgar" Zack announced pointing at the end of the bus.  
"Shut up and sit down kid" said the middle-aged, un-amused bus driver.

Zack slowly walked to the end of the bus, noticing the other 12 passengers on the bus, mostly just couples and old people. He then slunked into one of the red, decaying seats near the back, behind a sleeping old man. He felt sad as the bus slowly started to roll away on the dirt road from Gongaga, away from his childhood and away from his family and friends. But the feeling subsided with the thoughts of becoming a famous SOLDIER, seeing the big lights of Midgar and flirting with all of the females.

The bus ride was long and boring, but Zack kept himself busy by studying the reading material ShinRa had sent out to him by request, which included two pamphlets, one about Midgar the other entitled "So you want to become a SOLDIER". He read through these time and time again until he knew them word by word and could recite the companys theme off by heart. He could already picture himself in his SOLDIER gear, brandishing his sword, standing heroicly on a cliff side bordering Midagar.

It was another 5 hours before they finally reached their destination of Costa Del Sol. Brimming with joy, Zack jumped out of the bus with his bags only to fall flat on his face after two bikini clad woman walked by. He picked himself up, dusted himself off and scratched the top of his head with a grin, trying to keep his cool in front of the two ladies who didn't seem to notice a thing in the first place. Afterwards, Zack made his way down the sandy streets, towards the ticket office to purchase his tickets on the SS. ShinRa, named after the company that owned it. This was his first time this far away from home and so far all was going well which pleased him.

Zack boarded the ship with bags in tow. The ship wasn't the most luxurious ship in the world, but he didn't expect much with the money that he had.

He eventually made his way to the cabin he was assigned to only to realise that he had a cabin mate who would be bunking with him. He quickly eyed the cabin up and down, it consisted of a bunk bed on one side and a seat on the other. The walls showed a little rust and the room in total smelt a little off.  
"Hi, I'm Terryl" said the boy with a welcoming look on his face.  
"Howdy, my name is Zack. You on your way to Midgar too?" questioned Zack.  
"Sure am. I'm going to visit my uncle in Sector 3. He says he can get me some work as an repairman working in the reactors. How bout you, what's your business in Midgar"  
"I'm going to join SOLDIER and become the most well known SOLDIER in the world" exclaimed Zack with a heroic look on his face.  
"Hmph, another one. I had a friend in Niblehiem that kept going on about that too. I think the world has enough SOLDIERS as it is, especially with the legendary Sephiroth to guide them.  
"Yeah well, I'm sure Midgar has enough repairmen" Zack scowled under his breath while folding his arms.

Zack spent the rest of the boat trip out and about the ship, only revisiting his cabin to sleep.

Once Zack awoke the next morning he could see that Terryl had already vacated the cabin and hadn't bothered to wake Zack and tell him that the ship had already docked. "SHIT!" Zack screamed in his mind, worrying that the ship could leave any second. He jumped up, grabbed his things and sped off the ship.

"Pictures do not do this place justice" thought Zack as he walked onto the streets of Junon. He looked up only to see the massive cannon coming out of the side of a structure that was part of the city itself, He giggled to himself after thinking crude thoughts about the cannon and other things and moved on to the bus station, seeing a bus that had "MIDGAR EXPRESS" written on it.  
"That's the one, just one more stop in Kalm, then I start living the dream" He thought to himself.  
The bus left Junon and started it's 6 hour journey to Kalm. On arrival, Zack decided to wait on the bus until it took off again, even if it was a half hour before it did so.

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	2. Arrival

Chapter 2: Arrival

The bus carrying Zack pulled up to busy bus terminal in sector 8. As Zack hopped out of the bus he was knocked to the ground by a man carrying a briefcase. By the time Zack got up, the man had disappeared in the massive crowd that seemed to stretch for miles. After wading through the people, Zack finally found a map of Midgar that may as well have been in jibberish as it made no sence whatsoever. He then proceeded to ask random people for directions to the ShinRa building. Many of the answers he received went somewhat along the lines of "Your wasting my time kid!" and "That way" they would say pointing in a random direction. After an hour or so asking around, he finally came to an elderly man who had a ShinRa ID badge on him."Yo, gramps. You work for ShinRa?" asked Zack."Yeah, why?" said the ShinRa employee."Thank God. I need directions to the ShinRa building. Don't suppose I can just tag along with you"The man looked at his watch in a frustrated manner."Yeah sure, just be quick. If you fall behind, I ain't comin back for ya" the employee said.  
"Great!" Zack exclaimed with relief. He picked up his stuff and hurried behind the ShinRa employee.

When they arrived at the ShinRa HQ, just before the man branched off to do his own thing, he asked Zack what his business was with ShinRa. "I am going to become the most famous SOLDIER on the planet" Zack replied while standing in a somewhat heroic pose. The ShinRa employee stared at him. "Uhh, yeah, sure kid. Well good luck I guess."Won't need it" said Zack with a thumbs up.

After Zack and the employee parted ways, Zack entered the ShinRa building through the front main entrance and could happily have skipped to the information desk but didn't want to risk looking like a pansy. As he made his way towards the information desk, he couldn't help but notice how grand a building it was. the first floor itself seemed bigger than most of the houses in Gongaga put together.

There was a short, brunette lady working behind the information desk, Zack took a liking to her immediately.  
With a macho look on his face, Zack announced "Hello, I'm Zack Fair. I'm here to join SOL"The receptionist quickly cut him off, saying what seemed like an automated message."All new recruits take the door behind me, put your bags down in the locker room, go upstairs, take the elevator to the 69th floor and wait at the bottom of the stairs with all of the other recruits. Here's your elevator card, have a nice day." Zack gave her a blank look, took his elevator card and followed her instructions.

As he walked into the elevator he noticed the that the only thing separating him from the outside, was a thin layer of glass. He pressed the button for the 69th floor, folded his arms, leaned against the wall and stared out at the city that would now serve as his home for a while. As he looked out the window, he saw many cars and people slowly getting smaller and smaller as he traveled upward in the structure.

The door opened to reveal 15 other boys his age. They all looked fit and in top condition to try out for SOLDIER. He walked over to the group and started to introduce himself as "Zack, soon to be the worlds best SOLDIER". Most of the other recruits just laughed and went about their business while some went along with the act and bowed down in a mockingly way to the "soon to be best SOLDIER". Zack enjoyed the attention while it lasted. All of a sudden, an announcement came from over the PA system announcing that all new recruits must walk up the stairs on the left or right and form in an orderly fashion for President ShinRa, and await his orders.

There were mixed feelings of nervousness and joy scattered through the crowd of hopefulls. None of them had met President ShinRa before. One of the boys looked over to Zack, noticing that he looked as if it was an every day thing. "Aren't you nervous?" Asked the boy with worry in his eyes.Zack chuckled "Are you kidding me? I got this one in the bag.  
The other boy raced off to his friends who where straitening their shirts and hair, leaving Zack to himself.

They started to ascend the stairs. Their hearts beat faster with each step up they took. When they reached the top they formed in lines of 3 x 5 (Diagram follows)

o o o o o

o o o o o

o o o o o

They all stood with their arms at their sides and awaited the presidents arrival. Not a word was spoken between them.


End file.
